Blood's Donor's Debtor
by Grace in Chaos
Summary: A continuation of the series after the last episode, this story is similar in nature to Tanya Huff's Blood Debt, but with essential changes to fit the TV series, as well as other plot alterations.
1. Discovering Toni

**Author's Note:** _Welcome to the story! This is basically just my way of continuing the Blood Ties TV series as a novel. I decided to try to stick to as close as I could to Tanya Huff's books, and am roughly doing a version of Blood Debt that works with the TV series and has my own changes and flair in it. Everything that happend in the TV series preceeds this story, and reference will be made to that. I'll also be including a playlist of a couple songs to listen to while reading that sort of give the mood I want, so please check them out! I'd also really like to hear what you guys think, so reviews are greatly appreciated!_

_This chapter's playlist: Furr by Blitzen Trapper and House of Wolves by My Chemical Romance_

_Chapter One: Discovering Toni_

"How about you just fuck off?" I snarled, glaring at the two men before turning back to my Styrofoam cup of coffee.

I just wasn't in the mood for this right now. Having two street thugs hit on me at a homeless shelter…things had really changed for me. Two years ago at this time, I was on my way into my first year of college, ready to conquer the world. Now I was thousands of miles from what I had always considered home, in a different country, struggling to find a place to sleep and a bite to eat. I'd lost so much, I wasn't about to let some common thugs harass me. I wouldn't fall that far.

Thankfully, the two men simply exchanged glances and moved away from me. I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd definitely been in worse situations before, and a full year living on the street had taught me how to handle myself in these sorts of situations.

"Christ…" I murmured, wondering just why the hell I'd been stuck in this life anyway.

Taking a sip of coffee, I grimaced at the taste. I'd never been one for coffee, but the caffeine was something I'd become unable to live without. All in all, I figured that enduring the bitter sludge of coffee was better than getting addicted to some of the things that other homeless people did.

"Excuse me." A male voice murmured, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I looked up swiftly, giving him a look that wasn't quite a glare, but wasn't exactly what anyone would consider to be friendly either.

"Can I sit for a minute?" He asked again, gesturing to the empty seat across from me.

I nodded, not really seeing any harm in talking to him for a while. He looked so much different than everyone else here…everyone else I'd been forced to associate with…that I couldn't help but be intrigued by him. He wasn't very tall, only an inch or so higher than me I'd guess, with a strong face and deep brown curly hair waving to his shoulders. This combined with his sleek black attire made him intensely attractive, and I couldn't help but wonder what the hell he was doing here. It wasn't like he was one of us – he reeked of money like nothing I'd ever seen. Not to mention he smelled so much better than all of us. I looked down for only a second, only letting a brief moment of shame come over me. One of the hardest things for me to adjust to was not being able to have regular showers. I just hated to smell.

But that moment didn't last long. I raised my head and shook my long dark hair out of my face, looking directly at him, only letting myself to be a little bit mesmerized by his clear blue eyes.

"I was wondering if you could help me find someone I'm looking for." He said, still quietly and almost seductively.

"Just who is it you're looking for?" I asked, knowing that who the person was would make a huge difference in what I'd say to his request.

"A young man. He should have a tee shirt on with the name of a local band called _NAME_ on it." The man continued to describe the features of the young man, and I vaguely recognized him to be a kid I'd seen around a few times.

"So why do you want to find him?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"I have reason to believe that he might be in danger." The man said. For a minute I thought that he was going to say something else, but when he didn't I took a swig of my coffee.

"Well, I'll tell you this much." I started. "I don't know what his name is, or all that much about him, but I've seen him around a few times. We sometimes haunt the same places, run in the same circles, that sort of thing."

"And do you have any idea where I could find him?"

"At the moment? No, I have no idea. Most of us just look after our own backs. There's no reason to get too much in anyone else's business."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"A week or so, I guess." I paused. "Why? Are you a cop or something?" Or worse? I wondered. What was this guy into? I briefly wondered if he was dangerous, and then figured that he was. After all, he just had that look about him. Silent power behind a confident frame.

He smiled at me, and chuckled for reasons that I didn't know. "No, I'm not a cop. Just trying to be helpful."

"Helpful to whom?" I asked sharply. I was definitely not liking this conversation. All I'd really wanted tonight was to get some coffee before finding a place where I could sleep without freezing to death. It didn't seem like so much to ask.

He didn't answer, but merely watched me, gazing into my eyes with a strange intensity.

I stood then crumpling my now empty cup. "Have a nice night." I said, turning away.

For another short moment I wondered if I'd been rude when leaving, but I figured that I'd been nice enough to just talk to him in the first place. After all, most guys that rich were only looking for….well, not just information. Definitely not information.

I shuddered as I walked into the night, pulling my worn coat closer around my torso. For May, it was so much colder than I really wanted it to be. I wished for spring, a warm spring that would leave me able to sleep at night without worrying about hypothermia. After all, there were enough things to worry about at night than the weather.

I turned onto an alley, taking a shortcut I knew that headed into nicer neighborhoods. I generally only ventured to this side of town for the coffee and for the place to sit in comfort. It was too rough for me ever to feel really comfortable, so I always walked the miles back to the better side of Vancouver.

Sighing, I turned to look behind me. It was a habit by now, as I'd learned about trying to get the hell out of dangerous neighborhoods in the past. My heart stopped as I saw one of the men from earlier following me.

"Shit!" I cursed quietly, turning again while trying not to appear to be speeding up. I watched the end of the alley closely, knowing that when I got there I'd be on a street that at least had more people. That way I wouldn't be safe, but I wouldn't have a problem losing the ass-wipe that was following me once I got there.

Unfortunately, I realized that I wouldn't be getting there as the other man stepped into the head of the alley facing me. He began sauntering towards me, and I quickly glanced behind me to see the other man start jogging toward me. A quick survey of the area told me that there was nowhere to go; the alley was perfectly straight and had no doors or paths leading off it.

"Hey there, Princess!" The second man called to me, still sauntering toward me like he just owned the fucking world. "Too good for us, hey!?"

I stopped moving then, bracing my feet and praying that I could fight them off. Part of me knew that I wouldn't be able to, that this would be just like that November after I'd gotten here.

"No." I snarled to myself. I would not let this be like that. Nothing could touch me. Nothing.

The man from behind me, who hadn't said a word, reached me first. I swung my leg out, hitting him in the shin and causing him to buckle slightly. I used that to my advantage as I shoved my fingers into his eye socket, causing him to howl in pain.

"Not so tough now, are you shit bag?" I growled at him, my foot making contact with his groin.

Unfortunately, in my preoccupation with fighting off this man, the other had come up from behind me. He grabbed me by my collar and threw me off the other man, hurling me to the ground.

"You just gotta make things difficult, don't 'cha?" He growled at me, dropping on top of me and pinning my arms over my head in one of his hands. With the other he groped at the waist of my jeans. I twisted under him, trying to kick him off, but he only pinned me down harder.

"None of that, eh baby?" He snarled in my ear, forcing my jeans to slide down my hips.

Fear clouded my mind only briefly before I just gave up. I knew that I'd never have a hope of forcing him off me, so I might as well just lay here until he was done. Maybe he wouldn't beat me after. Unlike last November.

But just as he started to unzip his pants he flew off me, suddenly airborne. Refusing to let shock get the better of me, I hurriedly pulled my pants back on my hips and quickly buttoned them. I stood, and for a second paused to take in what I was seeing.

The wealthy man from before was holding my attacker by the throat in the air. I could hear him yelling something at the other man, but my mind couldn't focus on it. All I could hear was the deadly predatory tone of his voice, and I took off running.

I ran faster and harder than I had in a long time, never stopping to look behind me. I sped past the wealthy man and my attacker, past the man I'd left laying on the pavement, never looking back. I ran for my life. I ran. And ran.


	2. Running From It All

_**Author's Note:**__ First I'd like to say that I'm very sorry to all of the readers for the long delay in updating this. I have no real excuses, except that I've been busy with my life. I did start writing a Harry Potter fanfic as well, so that's been taking my time a little also. I also would like to mention that this may be a little boring right now for those of you who want to see more of the original characters, but don't fret just yet. They're all coming soon enough! _

_Anyhow, I'm sure none of you really want to listen to me blabber on, so the playlist for the chapter is as follows: _

_The City is at War by Cobra Starship_

_*Also, a link to the complete playlist for this story is on my profile (finally)! Enjoy!!_

_Chapter Two: Running From It All_

I finally reached the park where I usually spent my nights. It was large, located in a slightly more pleasant side of Vancouver. That fortunately meant that there weren't all that many street people here, but it wasn't deserted by any means. There were no benches or anything, which made it less than desirable for many, but I quickly learned not to mind sleeping on the ground. After all, it was just better to be relatively alone.

After jogging to the center of the park, I collapsed into the center of a copse of trees, where I usually slept. I looked over at the older man already there, and found him watching me with wide eyes.

"Rough night?" He asked as he turned back to the device he was fiddling with.

I let out a shaky laugh and answered, "You might call it that."

"So what are you working on, Smitty?" I asked as I sat on the ground across from him.

Without looking up he explained. "A battery powered iPod speaker system. Some kid threw it away over on 43rd today –thought it didn't work."

"And you're going to prove him wrong." I stated, confident in his abilities. I'd never met anyone quite like Smitty before. He could take just about anything broken and thrown away and make it into something wonderful. That's one of the reasons that I decided to share the copse with him.

"Yep." He smiled a nearly toothless grin at me. "Now we can listen to the iPod of yours!"

"You're not going to sell it?" I asked, confused. Something like that could bring in a decent about of cash.

"Oh, sure I am. I just thought that I'd keep it for a couple of days, let us have a little luxury for once. After all," he added with a pause, "you've kept that thing close to you for all the time I've met you without even being able to listen to it. I figured that it was the least that I could do."

"Aw, Smitty. You don't have to do that." I was touched by his friendship, shocked that I'd found such a good friend out here.

"Sure I do. Look at all you've done for me." He gestured with one hand. "I'd never be able to keep a spot like this on my own. Need some strong youth to claim it."

I smiled sadly as I looked down, retrieving my pack from the hole where I'd left it. He was right, even though I didn't really want to admit it. Smitty and I were only friends because our talents worked well together. He brought his experience of living on the streets for some 60-odd years, and his ability to turn garbage into gold. I had my youth to protect our small shelter, and my ability to work with the rest of society so as to not let them realize what I really was. Together, we were a good team. I'd hoped initially that we could save enough money to get both of us off the streets. Now I wasn't so sure that would happen. At least we had clothes and food. Most of the time.

"So what happened tonight?" He asked, still working on the speakers.

"Well, I went to the shelter to get some coffee, and everything seemed normal at first." I started, only to have him interrupt.

"Was Ellie there?"

"No, I think that tonight was her night to work." I smiled, remembering how he adored the young volunteer. She seemed to remind him of someone. His daughter, maybe?

"Anyway, I was just sitting there, and this guy comes up to me. Wanted to ask some questions about Doug." I paused, then continued. "He seemed weirdly interested, but not like a pimp or a dealer, or nothing. Just like…I dunno. Anyway, he didn't really seem to belong there –way too rich."

"Hmm." Smitty mumbled, clearly thinking it through. "So what happened then?"

"Well, I left. I figured that I shouldn't get involved. Whatever's going on doesn't seem to be like anything I'd want to get involved with."

"Smart girl. Smart girl." He commented. "You know when to keep your nose out of other people's business. What happened after that?"

"Um. Nothing." I said. There wasn't one small part of me that would admit to Smitty about the attack. How close I had been to getting raped. What the rich man had done. What he'd looked like. I didn't know for sure what I'd seen, but I just wanted to forget it.

Smitty gave me a look like he knew that I wasn't telling him everything, but that it was okay with him. I returned the contact with a look of my own, but knowing that my face wasn't showing anything at all. That it was almost dead in its lack of animation.

After a few moments, I pulled out a blanket out of my pack and wrapped it around myself, laying down on the ground on one side of the copse. Even though it was still relatively early, only about 10 PM or so, I decided that I might as well just get some sleep. After all, what else did I have to do?

As I lay on my back, I watched the stars dance above me. When I lay like that, everything seemed to just put itself back into perspective. It was the feeling that I sometimes used to get when I'd go to church – that everything was so much bigger and more beautiful that I could ever imagine, and that I was just one small part in some master plan that was guaranteed to work out. I cherished nights like these, nights when I could reclaim that feeling. I'd felt that way for so much of my past life – like everything was planned out, and I had a destiny waiting just for me, and it felt good to be able to feel that way again. It was such a relief to stop worrying about my food source, my meager income, my shelter for the night, my secret identity that I was so desperately trying to hide. Times like these I was able to stop worrying if now would be the time that I'd finally be discovered by _them_ and could just relax.

Of course, I couldn't just feel completely at peace. My emotions were filled by the evening's events. The attack was so typical, I couldn't help but blame myself for not anticipating it. Things like that happened all the time, and I'd been a first-hand victim of that before. But that was just when I was new to this life, so I could easily forgive myself for suffering that. But now. Now was completely different. Now I was supposed to be able to handle myself on the streets better than anyone. Now I was finally supposed to be strong.

But I wasn't strong. I'd had to be rescued like some damned damsel in distress by some rich _man_ that just happened to be feeling philanthropic. At least I'd never have to see _him_ again, so I wouldn't have to face him. I didn't think that I'd ever be able to look him in the eyes again, not after the shame that he'd witnessed.

But I always speak (or think) too soon. It was just as this was going through my head that I rolled onto my side, facing the trees around me. I heard Smitty behind me get up and walk away, presumably to relieve himself. I stared out in front of me, suddenly seeing a flash of movement from my side. My whole body stilled as I froze, wondering who was there. In my mind, I quickly processed who the possible suspects could be. The most simple explanation would be Smitty, just moving around doing something completely normal. Or it could just be some other homeless person trying to find a soft piece of ground for the night.

But my mind told me that I just wasn't lucky enough for it to be anything like that. It probably was one of my attackers, who'd followed me somehow and now was furious for what I had put them through. If this was indeed the case, I was definitely in for some serious trouble, and I didn't know if I would even be able to survive it.

Instantly, I sprung into survival mode. I knew that I needed to get out of there fasts, especially so Smitty wouldn't be involved. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him because of me. After all, I'd only been on the streets for about a year, less than half of that time with Smitty, and if I got him killed so quickly…well, I just didn't think that I'd be able to deal with that. _You probably wouldn't have to_, my subconscious pointed out, _because you'd be dead_.

"Damn." I muttered, quickly standing up and brushing off my pants. Part of me wanted to go charging into the woods after whatever was in there, and another part of me just wanted to huddle in the clearing.

Thankfully, I didn't even have to decided. As I was debating with myself, I saw movement to my left, and turned to see the rich man from earlier step into the clearing.

"You know, you run awfully fast." He said wryly, not stopping his movement until we were only a foot or so apart.

"I was trying to prevent anyone from following me." I stated, my voice hard. I didn't want him here to give me pity.

"Yes, well that's probably a good idea." He pointed out. "Given the circumstances."

I made a noncommittal noise, staring at him. If he wasn't just so damned good-looking! I couldn't help but relax as he stood in front of me. I didn't know what it was, but there was just something about him that made me feel…I don't know. Like I didn't have to worry about anything. Like it was all okay.

Which everything was most certainly not. I couldn't let myself forget that this guy had some serious issues. From the strange questions, to the voice in the alley, to the way his eyes had looked…he was just more than I should be getting involved with.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked, still using an unfriendly voice.

He didn't answer for a moment, and I'd irrationally feared that I'd offended him in some way. "I just wanted to make sure that you were all right." He explained softly.

Shame flooded my cheeks with color, and I looked down. It took me a moment, but I eventually looked up to meet his eyes once again. "Thank you." I said, sincerely this time without trying to barricade him from myself. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't helped when you did…"

He held up his hand. "It's nothing. I'm glad that I was there to assist you."

We were both silent for a moment, and I tried to think of what to do next. I'd unexpectedly flipped completely, and now wanted to make amends to this man. I didn't even know his name…

"I'm Toni, by the way. Toni Brackston."

He smiled at me, revealing the most perfect smile I'd ever seen. "Fitzroy. Henry Fitzroy." He extended, and I met it with my own. He didn't quite allow us to shake, but instead ended up holding my hand as if he was going to kiss it. After a moment, I pulled from his grasp, feeling even more confused than I had been. What was with this guy?

"So, Henry Fitzroy," I said, walking back toward my space in the clearing and sitting in the leaves Indian-style, "why were you asking questions about Doug?"

He followed me, wearing an intrigued look. "I thought that you didn't know what his name was?" He asked sardonically, sitting across from me.

"I know a lot of things. Or maybe I don't." I said, "But you can't just expect me to spill everything I know to anyone who asks, can you?"

"So saying you from thugs qualifies me to get a name?" He asked, clearly disapproving.

"Yes, it does." I said. "And don't even look at me like that! A name, well, a name can be a very powerful thing. I wouldn't want Doug to come to any harm because of me."

"Well, that's not exactly the issue at the moment." He explained, leaning in towards me. "Doug was killed. I'm trying to find out what happened."

I sucked in a sharp breath, stunned. Sure, plenty of people I'd known had died before, but this…this sounded a lot like murder. I knew that I didn't want to be involved in this.

"So you _are_ a cop." I said, watching him keenly. He still just didn't seem like it. Not like a PI either. But what else could he be? Certainly not Doug's family. And he couldn't have loaned anything to Doug either.

"No, I'm merely a concerned individual." He remarked cryptically, his expression suddenly becoming more intense. "And I think that you should tell me everything you know about this Doug now."

I paused, seriously considering doing just what he said. After all, if this guy had saved me and followed me all the way back here, the least I could do would be to help him out. But as I was opening my mouth to answer, Smitty came back to the copse. He didn't say anything, merely grunted and sat down at his end of the clearing, going back to his tinkering with the speakers. But in that grunt I understood his position. He didn't know who Henry was, but he didn't want me to say anything about Doug.

I looked back to Henry after watching Smitty's entrance, and found Henry's eyes locked on me. For the briefest of moments, I thought that I saw his eyes go completely black. Then, after blinking, nothing seemed amiss.

"Well, I don't really know that much, to tell you the truth." I said, deliberately turning my back on Smitty. "It might help if you could tell me what sort of information you were looking for. For instance, what kind of trouble is he in?"

Henry looked over at Smitty for a moment, then turned his eyes back to me. "How about we continue this conversation somewhere else?" He suggested. "If you're hungry, we could pick something up. My treat."

I debated for a moment. The whole food suggestion was most likely made because I was homeless, and that made me want to reject it. On the other hand, I did want to continue talking to Henry, and if I could help with whatever he was dealing with…

"All right." I said, standing up. I heard Smitty made a grunt of surprise from behind me, clearly wondering what had caused me to act so differently than I usually did.

I glanced at him once as Henry stood, trying to convey that everything was fine. But as soon as our eyes made contact, I was surprised by the hostile intensity I saw there. Something akin to fear seemed to lurk behind his eyes, and I paused for a moment, wondering what had caused it.

But I quickly forgot Smitty as I turned back to Henry. He held his hand out to me, and I took it, walking out of the woods.


End file.
